Alexfloydia
Genus of grasses
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Alexfloydia is a genus of perennial stoloniferous grasses in the panic grass subfamily of the Poaceae grass family.[1][2]
| Alexfloydia | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Clade: | Commelinids |
| Order: | Poales |
| Family: | Poaceae |
| Subfamily: | Panicoideae |
| Supertribe: | Panicodae |
| Tribe: | Paniceae |
| Subtribe: | Cenchrinae |
| Genus: | Alexfloydia B.K.Simon |
| Species: | A. repens |
| Binomial name | |
| Alexfloydia repens B.K.Simon | |
This genus is endemic to coastal eastern New South Wales in Australia.
There is one known species, Alexfloydia repens.[3] This genus was named in honour of the species discoverer, Australian botanist Alexander Floyd (1926-2022).[4][5]
Habitat and distribution
Alexfloydia repens is a spreading, mat-forming grass found on the margins of brackish and tidal waterways in areas flooded by unusually high tides (called "king tides").[6] The species forms a groundcover associated with the tree species Casuarina glauca and the Endangered Ecological Community Swamp Oak Floodplain Forest. Currently this grass is known only from a few locations in the Coffs Harbour region.
Status
This species is listed as Endangered on the schedules of the NSW Threatened Species Act.[7]
Ecology
Alexfloydia repens is the sole larval food plant for the endangered Black grass-dart butterfly (Ocybadistes knightorum) (Lambkin & Donaldson, 1994).[8]